Aaron Ramsdale please…and quickly | OneFootball

Monday night was a great example of the togetherness of the squad and how they will fight for everything.

Every player gave everything and stretched every leg, muscle and limb to compete.

Well, when I say every player, I mean the outfield ones, because once again we were treated to a game of “stuck in the mud” by Nick Pope.

In pre-season the two Newcastle United keepers battled it out to be first choice.

While Aaron Ramsdale was saving a penalty and impressing everyone with his distribution, Nick Pope was mistiming runs against Celtic and actually falling over his own feet against Atletico Madrid. Honestly, if you were there you could hardly believe it. Are his feet size 18 or something (ED: Worth pointing out that in pre-season, Nick Pope played in six friendlies and Aaron Ramsdale just the one).

So right from the start I wanted Aaron Ramsdale to be number one.

Back to Monday night and the first goal is hit through Bruno and takes a deflection of about six inches at most off Schar. When I first saw it I thought Pope was leaving it as it was going wide. But then as per law 5.3.7 of football, any ball hitting the post from a liVARpool shot must go in. But where was the dive? Where was the attempt at least? A world class keeper might have anticipated the shot and had reactions good enough to get fingers on that shot. A top class keeper would have dived and missed it. Pope did what we’d do and stood rooted to the spot. Remember, if you were at the game you watched him practice saving shots just like that in the warm up. If you have seen keepers train, they use a deflection board for shots like that too.

The second goal is exactly what he practices in the warm up. A lay off and a shot into the corner.

The final one is the one that really pushed my buttons. Everyone to a man could see where that kid is shaping to hit that shot. He’s turned his body and is hitting it back across Nick Pope. So where is the Schmeichel star or the anticipation and dive at least? Once again Pope is rooted to the spot.

So let me get this right. If the ball isn’t straight at him then it’s in? Does he actually have the ability to dive?

Nick Pope was amazing in his first season.

In his second season he was average and never looked right after his shoulder injury.

In his third season it was no coincidence that when he was injured at Brentford our run of form started when Martin Dubravka replaced him.